The Illusionist – Movie Review

A French illusionist finds himself out of work and travels to Scotland, where he meets a young woman. Their ensuing adventure changes both their lives forever.

In the beautifully animated French film by Sylvain Chomet, L’Illusionniste, a down and out magician befriends a young Scottish girl who followed him, believing that he is a real magician . The story that follows is one of friendship, loss of innocence, love and appreciation of life. Is not a romance, their relationship is more of a father-daughter relationship. The film is written by the same amazing mind that brought us the Triplets of Belleville.

I was crying at the end of the movie, I felt it was a bittersweet ending. The storyline and the overarching theme of loss of innocence is very subtly woven through the movie. There is little to no dialogue in the entire film. You learn about the development of the relationship between the magician and the young girl through images, facial expressions and body language. Even the supplementary characters played powerful roles in shaping the lives of the magician and the young girl. One thing I really loved was the animation and how the movie was actually not set in France. There is one scene in particular when they are riding a train going over a bridge. The reflection and slight waves in the water was amazing. I wanted to print each frame of the movie. If you can get your hands on this movie, I highly recommend it.